10 CLOVERFIELD LANE

10 Cloverfield Lane Movie Review

Following a car accident, Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead of Final Destination 3 and The Thing fame) awakens in a doomsday shelter built by conspiracy theorist Howard (John Goodman) and his simpleton employee Emmett (relative unknown John Gallagher Jr.), both of whom claim they cannot leave due to an unknown attack that has contaminated the air outside. Described by producer J.J. Abrams as a "blood relative" of Cloverfield, one may have a preconceived notion of what to expect with this film--without spoiling anything I will say some of what you expect you will, indeed, get, but most of what you get is not what you expect at all. The film does a fantastic job building the tension between the three characters while leaving the viewer wondering if Howard is a savior or psychopath.

Michelle wonders too

It takes really good performances in a film in which only two or three characters (for the most part) are shown, and Winstead, Goodman, and Gallagher all delivery here. It truly is hard to say which turned in the best performance as they were all three SO good. The dialogue is clever, and there is even a bit of comedy sprinkled in here and there, and it works. The twists, turns, and suspense come one after another, but the director also does a wonderful job showing a life like this can leave one bored.

While showing Life, on a board

I absolutely loved everything about this movie--until the final reveal comes. What was a fantastic, edge of your seat thriller gives way to special effects and moments that will have you rolling your eyes instead of closing them. The funny thing is you will probably expect exactly what happens at the end of this movie (especially if you've seen Cloverfield), but you will likely not expect HOW it happens--and you'll probably be as disappointed as I was. Still, this is a really solid movie and certainly one worth watching.

On A Scale Of One To Ten: 8

 

10 Cloverfield Lane Movie Trailer

KILLJOY

Killjoy Movie Review

Michael (Kareem J Grimes, or Jamal Grimes--he goes by both) is a nice young man with a crush on a girl, but when said girl's boyfriend Lorenzo (William L. Johnson), a gang leader of some sort, finds out, he and his "gang (two other guys) beat Michael up. Tired of all this, Michael summons a...demon? Spirit? Something that appears in the form of Killjoy the ice cream truck driving clown who, for whatever reason, appears a full year after the "gang" accidently kills Michael. Killjoy does his killing by pulling the victims into his world...or something...that is entered via the back of the ice cream truck. Before I tear this movie to pieces let me start off by introducing you to the star of our show--ladies and gentlemen, I present to you...KILLJOY!!!

I hear a cricket chirping somewhere...

This might just be the worst clown in horror movie history. He's not scary. He's not creepy. He's not funny. He's not clever. He's not funny in any way, shape or form. The dialogue can best be described as mind numbing. Imagine that irritating white kid next door in the suburbs who walks around acting like he's a gangsta by using words he may have heard in a rap song or overheard the one black person he has ever actually been around say...and make a 70 minute movie of that kid and his friends doing their best to act legit and you have Killjoy, except the actors actually are black, which brings up an interesting question (that sadly the film never addresses)--it's long been a joke that horror movies always have the "token black guy" who has zero chance of surviving, and is often the first to go, sooo....if you have a horror film with an almost exclusively black cast, who dies first? Had they gone more comedic from the get-go (they awkwardly drop pinches of unfunny comedy here and there), they could have hit a home run with this concept...oh, and the answer (I would say spoiler alert but lets be honest, nobody really cares) of who dies first is the one white person in the film--more potential comedy gold that is never fulfilled. What else is bad about this film you ask? The directing--good grief, the last time I saw this much zoom in, pull out, zoom in was...actually, I have no idea. Some bad 70s Kung Fu film I would guess. The camera is so shaky at times you would swear this is a found footage film. The angles are...look at the clown photo above, but come out to the point where you see his ankles, and, yeah, that happens a lot. The CGI is beyond bad--in one scene a characters is shot multiple times but the screen looks like a first person shooter where you see red splatter where the bullets are supposed to be entering but then the spot goes away--after taking dozens of shots there's not a spot on his shirt. The acting is so horrible it is actually enjoyable, especially Lee Marks as Jamal. I know this was the first project for many of these people, and they all seems like truly likable people (which made their unlikable characters unbelievable), so you have to give them an A for effort and spirit, and somehow getting Full Moon involved, but by the time you make it to the ending (if you make it that far--and don't even get me started on how convoluted and ridiculous the ending is) you may wonder if this was, in fact, the worst movie you have ever watched--unfortunately, I've seen worse.

On A Scale Of One To Ten: 3

Killjoy Movie Trailer. Fellow Faith No More fans will delight in this

I SAW THE DEVIL

I Saw The Devil Movie Review

Special agent Kim Soo-hyeon (Byung-hun Lee) seeks revenge on Kyung-chul (Min-sik Choi), a serial killer who rapes and murders Kim's pregnant wife Joo-yeon (San-ha Oh); however, this isn't a simple case of seeking out the killer and killing him instantly--instead, Soo-hyeon opts for a capture, torture, release, repeat method. This 2010 South Korean film was released to much fanfare, and, unlike some other hyped-up films I have seen lately, this one actually delivers. This film manages to take a clichéd basis (avenging the death of a loved one, and because that's not cliché enough, she's also pregnant) and take it in new directions, in the process delivering a fascinating story. The tone is a very dark one right from the beginning, the violence is unrelenting, and the movie feels so...real. You later find out that, as if being a rapist and serial killer isn't bad enough, Kyung-chul is also a cannibal, possibly leading one to recall an old joke (presented here, updated, of course, to fit this film): What did they find in Kyung-chul's bathtub?

....

Aside from a really interesting story, the movie is also carried by the acting skills of both Lee and Choi--Choi's performance makes Kyung-chul one of the most despicable, resilient, memorable villains in recent film history, and Lee makes Soo-hyeon a sympathetic victim while teetering on being a ruthless sadist himself. At almost two and a half hours this is a long movie, but it maintains a steady pace the entire time--it's rare for me to see a movie this long and find myself wishing it would continue, but alas, it's what I experienced watching this. The movie is not without it's shortcomings--the dialogue leaves a bit to be desired, and you may find yourself using the word "bastard" quite a bit after watching this. It also comes a bit too close to being a Steven Seagal movie a time or two, but manages to pull itself back before drifting too far. These minor details aren't enough to suck the awesomeness out of this movie, though the inevitable American remake will undoubtedly be.

On A Scale Of One To Ten: 8

I Saw The Devil Movie Trailer